Make money while the tattoo ink is drying

Nov 18, 2015 — 4 min read

It steals both money and time. Being effective and minimising downtime is crucial for any business owner. We met with the Swedish tattoo artist Frej Lind, who gives his best advice on how he manages his business while the ink is drying.

– There’s always something to do, even if the basic chores don’t provide a daily income – they need to be done.

There’s no such thing as ‘having nothing to do’ if you’re striving for a lucrative business. According to recent data from Salary.com, 23 % state that they’re ‘just plain bored’ when slipping into habits of time wasting at work. If you ever find yourself idle or (God forbid) bored – you’re doing it wrong. Solo-entrepreneurs shouldn’t underestimate the importance of making the most of time at all costs – but more importantly during downtime – because as it’s been said a thousand times: time is ka-ching ka-ching.

The most frustrating thing for a tattoo artist is when a customer pulls a classic no-show. But there are ways to shoulder it. We spoke to the Swedish tattoo artist Frej Lind from Royal Arch Tattoo who gave us some basic ABC’s on how to shoulder no-shows and how to stay productive during the inevitable downtime.

How do you make the most of your time at work?

– I get to the studio at 8:00, have a quick breakfast while checking my messages and emails. Then I sit down and draw the sketches of the day. Sometimes I start working on pieces that are more time consuming and elaborately planned for the upcoming day, to save time whenever there’s a no-show. The first customer usually drops in at 10-11-ish, and a sitting usually takes around 3-5 hours (short breaks included). Then I usually have a second sitting during the afternoon, depending on my schedule. I manage to have a quick bite in between sittings.

What’s your secret for being productive when a customer simply doesn’t show up?

– There’s always something to do, even if the basic chores don’t provide a daily income they need to be done. In the best-case scenario, a new customer pops up. I usually get in touch with previously booked customers and ask if they want to come sooner. If however, the no-show happens on short notice and it’s difficult to find a replacement, I take the opportunity to catch up on other tasks, sketches for future customers, organising my workplace, fixing my accounting and do the boring stuff that needs doing.

There’s always something to do, even if the basic chores don’t provide a daily income they need to be done.

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